According to the Boston Globe, the Pentagon quietly has been pursuing a plan to increase the number of noncitizens it recruits into the armed forces to counter a weak recruiting market and to support a plan to expand the land forces. The obvious lure for foreigners is to gain US citizenship. The Globe reports that “Pentagon officials” are working with Congress on the issue.
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.